Mexico reports first outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza on poultry farms

PARIS (Reuters) – Mexico reported the first outbreak of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza on its farms this season to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) at the fifth expo, just a month after announcing that the country No longer infected with the avian influenza virus. Virus. doença. Doenza.

The outbreak detected in the northwestern state of Sonora killed 15,000 of the 90,000 chickens and the rest were shot down, Paris-based WOAH said, citing Mexican authorities.

“The first outbreak of highly pathogenic H5 avian influenza this season has been reported in a poultry production unit in the city of Cayemé, Sonora,” he told WOAH in a report.

The virus subtype found is believed to be H5N1 and poses no risk to humans through consumption of meat or eggs.

Mexico’s Agriculture Ministry said in a statement on the fourth day that quarantine measures had been put in place to prevent its spread.

The ministry said the Dounsa bird was discovered during another survey three kilometers away, where 54,000 birds live, and is being disinfected.

Mexico is one of the top ten pulp producers in the world, but its pulp export volume is less than 1%, second only to the North American organization GAIN.

Still, the spread of the highly contagious virus, which in previous years has wreaked havoc on chicken flocks around the world, causing supply disruptions, rising food prices and posing a risk of human-to-human transmission, is increasingly causing concern for the poultry industry.

Russia, South Africa and parts of Eastern Europe have also reported concentrated outbreaks of the virus in recent months.

Mexico’s animal safety authorities have announced that the country will no longer conduct virus-free poultry exploration starting today, ahead of the confirmation of the last or first case of H5N1 avian influenza in a jungle bird.

Last year, Mexico launched a mass bird vaccination campaign in high-risk areas, including the state of Sonora, to prevent the spread of the H5N1 virus.

A separate statement from the Agriculture Ministry last week announced for the first time the detection of the virus and said it was conducting tests to verify “that the vaccine used last year is effective against the virus entering in 2023.”

The new vaccination strategy will begin in the first few days of this month and will continue to increase.

Mexico’s animal safety agency Senascia urged local farmers to strengthen biosecurity measures during exploration and immediately report any abnormalities observed in animals to protect the country’s poultry production and increase WOAH.

Reporting by Rahame de Sybil in Paris; Additional reporting by Isabel Woodford in Mexico City; Editing by Alison Williams and David Evans